Melody Mountain Ranch is a gated, planned, suburban heaven for everyone but interior decorator Hope Jordan. As Hope struggles through the letdown of several unsuccessful fertility treatments, her cul-de-sac neighbors Will Pierce-Cohn, a stay-at-home dad and community activist; Frank Griffin, a minister-cum-homeowners' board president; and Tim Trautman, a soon-to-be father of five, jockey for her attentions.

Black Thursday: A Mrs. Frugalicious Shopping Mystery

When Maddie Michaels, AKA Mrs. Frugalicious, is invited to take a local news crew with her on a Black Friday shopping expedition, she’s excited to show viewers at home how to score the season’s best savings. Despite a negative comment from Contrary Claire - the sole naysayer in her growing Frugarmy - Maddie is hopeful her first TV appearance will be a bargain-savvy success. But Black Friday eve takes a bleak turn when a shopper is crushed beneath a pallet of toasters.

Stiff Penalty

Deputy coroner Mattie Winston knows a thing or two about dead bodies. That's why she's on the case of Derrick Ames, a high school math teacher stabbed to death with a barbecue fork straight to the heart. Sure, she's turned up some motives and a few suspects, but nothing adds up. Especially when the evidence points to Ames's teenage son. Newly pregnant Mattie can't believe it, even as her own long-estranged father may be following her.

Eternally 21: A Mrs. Frugalicious Shopping Mystery, Book 1

After Mr. Frank "Finance" Michaels loses the family’s financial nest egg in a Ponzi scheme, his wife Maddie does whatever she can to help keep up the appearance that everything is financially fine. When she starts a bargain hunter’s blog under the alias Mrs. Frugalicious, her website becomes a viral hit with a growing "frugarmy" of budget advice seekers.

Scared Stiff: A Mattie Winston Mystery

When Deputy Coroner Mattie Winston and her boss/best friend, Izzy, are called to the home of waitress and part-time model Shannon Tolliver, they find the ghoulish Halloween decorations a bit too authentic. Among the fake blood and skeletons is the corpse of Shannon herself. Since the whole town knows Shannon recently had a very public spat with her estranged husband, Erik, he's suspect number one. But Mattie happens to know Erik truly loved his wife, and is simply incapable of the brutal act - even if he owns the exact same caliber handgun as the murder weapon.…

Working Stiff: Mattie Winston Mysteries, Book 1

When Mattie Winston catches her husband Dr. David Winston receiving some very special loving care from R.N. Karen Owenby, she quits her job and moves out. Mattie's best friend Izzy offers her a place to stay and suggests she'd be a natural as deputy coroner. Now, instead of taking patients' pulses, Mattie's weighing their hearts and livers. But Mattie's first homicide call turns out to be for none other than Nurse Karen, and even though she saw her ex in a heated argument with the newly deceased the night before, she refuses to believe David could be a killer.

Frozen Stiff: A Mattie Winston Mystery

Deputy coroner Mattie Winston knows everyone in the charmingly small town of Sorenson, Wisconsin - except the latest body discovered in a desolate field. If a woman this attractive had moved into town, the news would have surely hit the gossip mill in record time. So who was the murdered femme fatale? Whose knife was left planted in her chest? The mystery deepens when detective Steven Hurley takes one look at the body and turns as white as the newly fallen snow...and excuses himself from the case.

Karen says:"Better Mystery, Romance not as good"

Publisher's Summary

Melody Mountain Ranch is a gated, planned, suburban heaven for everyone but interior decorator Hope Jordan. As Hope struggles through the letdown of several unsuccessful fertility treatments, her cul-de-sac neighbors Will Pierce-Cohn, a stay-at-home dad and community activist; Frank Griffin, a minister-cum-homeowners' board president; and Tim Trautman, a soon-to-be father of five, jockey for her attentions.

When Hope has a few too many cocktails and inadvertently eats hash-laced brownies at the playground ribbon-cutting gala/Memorial Weekend poolside potluck, she falls into the arms of one of her three wannabe paramours. Maybe all three. She wakes up with only fleeting memories of the evening, and soon discovers that her dream of getting pregnant has become a crushing reality. With all eyes on her, Hope is forced to watch as the walls holding up her picture-perfect neighborhood begin to crumble.

this is a hard question because they are funny and well performed and quirky. so i liked that about them. but the underlying thread is a pretty dark and all of the characters have some pretty big "issues"

Which scene was your favorite?

i liked the end

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

both. but mostly laugh. it's somewhat nihilistic in places and rather absurd. but the romantic in me cried for a lack of soul.

Any additional comments?

great characters and good comic reading by this narrator. she nailed these suburban types

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